Hacks for moving house

[orangedrizzle]

Moving house next week with 3 little ones! They will all be in childcare. We have people coming on Wednesday to pack the house up before we move on Friday. Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom or hacks to make it a bit easier? Thanks

Instead of simply labelling boxes ‘kitchen’ write if something you will need quickly is in them ‘kitchen, dishwasher tablets and cleaning cloths’ you won’t remember where any is on moving day.

Keep back enough money for a takeaway the day you move.

Order a shopping delivery to your old house a few days before you leave so have enough of everything you need in like loo roll, milk etc. You don’t have time for trips to the shop!

@RicePuddingWithCinnamon great ideas! Thanks

Have a bag of useful stuff and a few bits of furniture with you in the car, ready to get out as soon as you arrive. Things to assist you whilst unpacking:
kettle
tea bags & coffee
milk
biscuits/energy bars
teaspoons
Mugs
Tea towel, dish cloth and washing up liquid
A few plates, knives and forks
Loo roll
A few kitchen chairs and a small table
kitchen roll and several packs of cleaning wipes

Put pets in kennels/cattery.
Arrive at the new house and hoover the empty rooms before the removal men start unloading heavy stuff like beds. (Send them off to have lunch).

I labelled all my boxes with big round coloured stickers. Then gave removal men a floorplan with each room colour coded. Every box went in the correct room. I also colour coded bin bags with bedding in for each room and had a box of essentials (tea, coffee etc)

As well as writing on each box I bought a few rolls of different coloured tape (electrical tape i think) and once i was all packed up i put a band of tape round near the top of each box to colour code them at a glance. Red for bedrooms, yellow for kitchen, green for garden stuff ect ect. Then let the moving guys know.

The men said it made life soooo much easier and quicker rather than spinning boxes round in the van or half way up the path trying to find the writing.

Oh, and hand towels, bath towels, pyjamas and dressing gown, phone chargers, tooth brushes etc - keep all where you can easily find them for the first night.

@AgathaMystery - great minds huh? 😊

First thing to do in new house, make up the beds! Don't want to be doing that while exhausted at the end of a long day

We had to pull up the carpets in the bedrooms when we moved to an old cottage. They were manky.

I shot up the stairs and did it before the moving men started filling the upstairs rooms with boxes. Made life easier.

I realise this is probably not a common issue but still ..... if it helps anyone

Not a hack but use this as your chance to get rid of anything you don’t absolutely 110% NEED. If there’s clothes that haven’t been worn or items unused in a set amount of time, either donate, bin or sell them. If selling on vinted wait and put it all on around the end of the month.. everything seems to fly at that point when people have been paid!

Go onto Forces Sweethearts and you will get all the removal tips you need from there . All of it is far behind me I've probably forgotten most of it , thank goodness .

Instead of taking all of your clothes out of your wardrobe and folding them into boxes, use heavy duty bin bags and put the clothes into it while still on hangers.. that way you can literally lift the clothes from one wardrobe to another

We had separate cases packed with a few days clothes / toiletries / towels etc. Also had packers (which was great). Think we put cases in the bathroom (as nothing else in there to be packed), with a note on the door saying not to be packed by them. (Dont forget them though!) Important docs like passports etc were also in separate box in the car.

And has box in kitchen that had loo roll, kettle, coffee and things we may want immediately etc.

Once they had packed a room and moved stuff, we went behind and cleaned/dusted/hoovered (had done initial clean before).

Also kept the movers sweet through the day with cold drinks / crisps / biscuits.

When got to new house, had one.of us advising which new room furniture and boxes etc went into. If not sure, then boxes went into garage.

Good luck!

Do one final box per room on the morning of move to include your essentials eg bathroom- toothbrush, toothpaste, loo roll, shampoo, conditioner, towels, bath mat etc so when you get there you can just use those essential boxes for each room and don't need to unpack from larger boxes until you've had a good night's sleep. Also keep a cleaning box to hand for the new place and charge up cordless vacuums in advance so you're ready to go for the big clean when you get there. Good luck.

If you have packers be aware that they will pack literally everything and will pack as they go, drawer by drawer, so I always went round the house in advance and gathered like with like, so (eg) get a plastic box or bag and gather up all the loose pens/ pencils/ other stationary together- ditto charging cables, cleaning products, medicines etc. then there is just one box of cleaning products rather than 4 boxes each with some cleaning products in them. Nothing more depressing than opening a box and finding the contents of your junk drawer in all its random glory.

Suitcase/backpack for each member of the household with a few activities, snacks, nightwear, toiletries, change of clothes, nightlights/favourite teddies, dummies etc. Basically what you'd pack for a night away with them. Take those in the car with you, that way you'll know that everyone will have what they need for the first 24 hours if everything goes wrong and you get nothing done.

A box of stuff you want access to immediately, if you can, put this in the car with you too

• cleaning supplies
• mugs
• kettle

-coffee/tea supplies

• biscuits

We used coloured stickers for rooms too and a bloody great big asterisk drawn on the boxes that contained stuff we knew we'd need to unpack first because it would be needed. Things like duvets, bed linen, towels, favourite clothes, favourite toys.

We left clothing on hangers, tied them together in batches with hair bobbles around the metal hanger bit then put a bin liner over them by poking the hangers through a hole we made in the bottom of the bin bag. Then when we got to the new house just tore off the bin bag, removed the hair bobble and hung everything up.

This is useful for wrapping furniture so the doors of wardrobes etc don’t fly open when you or the removals people are moving them, it’s also good for wrapping mattresses. It’s like a huge roll of cling film.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TPZ-Packaging-Zone-Strong-Stretch/dp/B082VJMPS8/ref=mp_s_a_1_5_sspa?crid=2MRLD5KL97KPZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.61t7iTedP-YLxo2b3nZ0k52wJnNjBoD3-C2BatmFE0bdl2XH5dYzUo2dOIH74LSEKI3FqEfdW39HeFttbixspOgFtFvrdyJJQP-Kdf_wIEU_AXccBiuwCzMLX4piCm8UIBwAx_YWxIFKbzKwI427wqp8GuzI53Hfadar89zkd2jjh3lt1Ki0eYoGTsEi1gG831gQ17dpXFOhBZ3vJPmXyA.sfwM7TGhs7OxxZTM6d2MVsGw3Q0cThfsVhE7LIg7IAE&dib_tag=se&keywords=wrap&qid=1715979534&sprefix=wrap%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-5-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfbXRm&psc=1

Here’s for for the day after you move -

Fold up your used boxes and wrap them up, put them on gumtree or Facebook marketplace free to collector. They can be reused one more time before they get recycled.

I second making up your beds first as by the end of the day you'll be too tired.

Pack cases with a week of clothes.

Separate and keep in your car some towels, washbags, sets of bedlinen, washing and dishwasher rabs, other cleaning gear, dishcloths etc, kettle and tea making stuff. Also keep a separate box with all the important filing and ID documents.

Have an expanding file with all the documents for the move and an A5 book where you can write down anything like phone numbers, room measurements, useful stuff.

Write a brief description of what is in each box on at least two of the sides and on the top, doesn't have to be neat, but if you stack up boxes you'll be pleased to know what is inside without having to take them all down.

My biggest tip would be to show the old empty house to the kids if you can, show that all has been packed and everything has moved with you. It's a massive change for children, mine were obsessed about their belongings for a long time.

Other than that, all essentials are last on, first off. Keep all documents and any precious items with you and travel them in your car. Along with bedsheets and duvets/pillows. First to set up are the kitchen and bedroom.

Have overnight bags for all with everything needed. Again in your car.

Have a dump area in the new house where boxes can be stored out of the way until you get to them.

At the start of our last move (done it 4 times in 7 years) I had a list of what was in non essential boxes, box numbered and itemised. Final boxes were grab and chuck, so last items needed, They were marked on different colour with just the room name on them.

I put fresh bedding on the night before the move so that when I made up the beds at the new house they were clean enough to last until I was recovered enough to do the washing.

Put things you don't want the packers to pack into the bath (and explain this to them, obviously).

Thanks for a great thread. Some really good tips on here!